


Secrets Aren't Always Easy To Keep

by Kyra_Marmora



Category: Bionicle - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-21 02:58:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16568312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyra_Marmora/pseuds/Kyra_Marmora
Summary: Something is off with Pohatu. He hasn't been himself lately. Onua is curious and wants to help, and discovers a secret that Pohatu has been trying to hide.He likes Gali.





	Secrets Aren't Always Easy To Keep

Onua was smart. He noticed things. He picked up on details that others had missed. He could tell when something wasn't right. 

And recently, he had noticed that his Toa brother, Pohatu, had been looking rather troubled and anxious, two things that Pohatu was not on a normal basis. Onua had thought to himself that it seemed like Pohatu had a sort of inner war going on inside, but it wasn't until Tahu remarked on Pohatu's strange behavior in an aside, that he realized it was obvious to the others, and something needed to be done. The problem was: what? 

He made sure to keep a close watch on Pohatu after that, keeping track of what he was doing and how he reacted to things. Not that reading the tough, rugged, Toa of Stone was easy to begin with. But at times Onua seemed to be made with an almost uncanny ability to read others and see through their barriers, although few knew it. Onua himself couldn't have told you so. 

Then one day, after a long and rough battle, the Toa regrouped at the temple, and after reporting to Ekimu, unwound from the fight. Lewa was his cheerful, rambunctious self, Kopaka was his icy, silent, observant self, Tahu was his proud, hotheaded, leaderly self, Onua was his gentle, compassionate, perceptive self, and Gali was her tough, joyful, kind self. The only one who seemed out of place was Pohatu, who was brooding over in a corner of the temple courtyard. While this was not uncharacteristic of him to do so, something just felt off to Onua, as it had been for some time now. He was about to go talk to Pohatu when Lewa gave a loud, enthusiastic yell, effectively drawing everyone's immediate attention. 

"Did you see that punch I landed on him? Did ya? It was epic-awesome! I'm telling you, that must've hurt, because I punch hard-fast!" 

Tahu rolled his eyes under his mask. "Of course we saw, Lewa. We were there. We helped take him down, if you can manage to remember hard enough." 

Lewa, if he had a tongue to stick out, would've. "I remember just fine, brother. Remember my super cool-neat punch, that is!" Onua could tell that he was enjoying himself. 

Tahu sighed. "Typical of you, I must say, brother. Well, at least some of us remember, right, Kopaka?" 

Kopaka gave them a passive glance, and said swiftly, "I reserve the right to remain silent." 

Onua gave a deep, booming laugh and said, "I'm with Kopaka."

Tahu shot them a look of mock betrayal while Lewa crowed victoriously from his tree branch. Gali laughed softly. The sound of her gentle laughter caught Lewa's attention. He looked down at her, leaning casually on the tree trunk with her arms folded loosely. He grinned widely underneath his mask at the thought of gaining a potential ally, and shouted down, "Hey, sister! You going to back-up me on this?" 

Gali looked up at him and replied, with mirth apparent in her tone, "No, dearest brother. I believe I'll stay out of it too, and I think Pohatu will back me up on this as well. Will you, Pohatu? Pohatu?"

Pohatu, who was deep in thought, was startled and looked up with an expression of confusion on his mask. "I'm sorry, what did you ask me, Lewa?"

Lewa said back, "Wasn't me who asked-wondered you a question, it was Gali. But since we're asking, will you back-watch me up?" 

Pohatu ignored the last part of Lewa's query and looked over at Gali almost shyly; at least, it looked that way to Onua. "Yes, Gali? What did you want to ask me?"

Gali chuckled lightly and glanced up at Lewa, who was swinging upside down from his branch. "I just wanted to know if you'd back me up. Lewa and Tahu were in another little argument, and Kopaka, Onua, and I opted to stay out of it. Where do you stand on the subject, brother?"

Pohatu, who, once again, seemed to not have heard the last bit of Gali's question, stammered a bit. "Yeah, I'd-I'd love to back you up, Gali. I mean, I'd stay out of it. Like you. I-I mean, not like you, but-" He stopped abruptly and then said gruffly, "I'm going for a walk. See you guys later." 

The others watched him stalk under the arch and down the steps beyond. After he disappeared from view, Tahu and Lewa shrugged simultaneously and went back to their playful disagreement. Kopaka seemed to give the matter no further thought, and Gali appeared to be completely absorbed in her brothers' little fight. 

Onua looked all of them over carefully. They weren't paying him any attention, so he sidled around the others and went out the same way Pohatu did. He caught sight of his brother vanishing down a street that led to the outskirts of the town. He followed him through the city, and the jungle after, until they reached a dusty, bare cliff just out of the jungle that was situated on the coastline, several miles away from the city and the temple. Onua watched as Pohatu sat down and stared at the waves crashing with all their might into the rocks below. 

He started forward to say something, just as Pohatu said without looking behind him, "Come on out, Onua. I know you're there." 

Onua came out from behind a tree, looking as sheepish as he could through a mask. He walked forward and sat down next to Pohatu, dangling his legs over the cliff's edge. He looked at Pohatu out of the corner of his eye, and then said softly, "What's the matter, brother? You have not been yourself, and I want to know if you're alright." 

Pohatu continued to look out over the ocean and gave no sign that he'd heard, his expression as stony as the name of his element implied.

Onua sighed gently. "Please, Pohatu. Please let me know what's going on. I want to help."

There was no change from before.

Onua sighed again. "Brother. I won't judge you for whatever you might say. And you know that I won't tell anyone. Pohatu, tell me the truth. Are you fine?"

Pohatu stayed the same. Onua gave him a look, but refrained from saying more. No use to push his brother into it. He'd tell him when it was time. Just then, Pohatu spoke.

"I love Gali." 

Said as normally as Onua would say, "I'm going to the village."

He nodded wisely. "I thought so."

Pohatu finally turned to look at him. "Was I that obvious?"

Onua shook his head. "No, I don't believe the others noticed. Just me." Pohatu gave a sigh of relief. But Onua continued on. "It was easy to see it in you, brother. Your love runs deep."

Pohatu was suddenly grateful for the cover of his mask. He nodded once, shyly. Then, words seemed to burst out of him. 

"I have ever since I first saw her, brother. The first time I saw her was when I was walking in one of the forest villages, and I noticed her comforting a youngling who had fallen and hurt himself. She bandaged up the wound, told him a story, gave him a hug, saw him home, and went on her way. She never noticed me, standing there in the shade of the trees, watching her the whole time. Ever since that day, I've loved her. I always thought my affection for her was that of a brother. It wasn't until we nearly lost her to Umarak that I realized just how much I did, indeed, truly love her."

Onua gave a wise nod once more. "What do you plan to do about it?"

The simple question seemed to catch Pohatu off guard. "What do you mean?"

Onua shot Pohatu a knowing look. "Exactly what I said. What do you plan to do about it?"

Pohatu, after realizing what his brother meant and getting over his shock, thought it over. "I can't tell her how I feel."

It was Onua's turn to look surprised. "Why can't you? I think you have as good a chance as any." 

Pohatu shook his head and looked downcast. "No, it's not to be thought of."

Onua asked gently, "Why not?"

Pohatu replied sadly, "I couldn't dare to dream of it. It wouldn't be fair to her. I couldn't ask someone such as her to be stuck with me for the rest of their life. She deserves so much more than I could ever give. I'm nowhere near worthy enough for her. No, it's not to be thought of. I just can't, brother."

Onua knew that Pohatu would say something like that, so he'd thought out his reply beforehand. "But, my dearest brother, what would Gali think?" Pohatu looked startled. "You must think of her, too. What do you think she would want you to do?"

Pohatu smiled hollowly. "She'd want me to tell her how I feel, even if she couldn't give the same in return."

Onua replied softly, "Yes. She would. She would rather you ask, even if she couldn't return the feeling, than have you never speak up and suffer the rest of your life wondering what might have been."

Pohatu nodded and straightened, as if drawing himself up for a battle. He looked at Onua. "Thank you, brother."

Simple words, but they carried much meaning.

Onua and Pohatu looked out over the rocks at the foot of the cliff, over the waves smashing themselves on the rocks, over the waves to the ocean, and over the ocean where at the horizon, where the sun was well on its way to setting. 

Pohatu thought, "I'll tell her when the time is right. But until then, I can't let myself hope. I must stay strong, for her, and not let her know how I feel." 

Onua, on the other hand, thought, "How long will I be able to keep this a secret? He's never going to let himself tell her; I'm going to have to give him some...kind, brotherly help, accompanied by a push or two." 

Tahu was the first to notice Onua and Pohatu walking up the temple steps later that evening. He was in a cheerful mood due to a temporary triumph over Lewa, and called down the stairs, "Hey, good to have you guys back. What took you so long?" 

Pohatu walked up and right past him into the temple courtyard, taking up his regular position in one of the corners with his arms crossed. Onua reached the top of the steps and stopped near Tahu. He looked in Pohatu's direction and upon spotting him, shook his head fondly with a slight hint of exasperation before turning to look back at his leader. "Nothing, brother."

Tahu took another look at Pohatu standing in the corner, and followed his gaze to the scene in the middle of the courtyard. Gali and Lewa were ganging up on Kopaka, trying to get his cold demeanour to slip. He looked back at Onua with a suspicious expression. "You're hiding something."

Onua sighed at the pointed remark. "I'm not allowed to tell, Tahu. A secret is called a secret for a reason, and a good one, at that. So, please, no more questions."

Tahu became even more suspicious. "A secret, hmm? Better be a good one."

Onua gave Tahu a direct look. "No." 

Tahu sighed. "Fine."

Onua gave an internal sigh of relief when Tahu walked away to break up the skirmish between Lewa, Gali, and Kopaka. He looked at Pohatu in the corner, and after a moment, he leaned against the wall himself. 

He groaned and sighed audibly. Then he remarked quietly to himself, "I said I had a secret. I didn't say it was an easy one to keep."

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> So, this was written in the Journey To One universe, but I kept Lewa's tree-speak from the movies, because it was more fun to write that way. 
> 
> This is written after the series ended, where Umarak was destroyed and the Toa went back to the stars. Well, I'm pretending that they didn't, and they're still on Mata Nui. Also, they have bad guys to fight. Don't know who the bad guys are, or where they came from, but they are there. That's all I know.
> 
> If any of you see anything that you think is off, let me know! I welcome criticism.
> 
> Have an awesome day, and God bless you all!
> 
> -Kyra Marmora


End file.
